President of Ireland Michael D Higgins will be the guest of honor on Friday May 4 when Self Help Africa hosts its inaugural Boston Change-Maker’s Ball, to support its sustainable development programs in rural Africa. The new president, on his first official trip to Boston, will join in a glamorous black-tie event at the Fairmont Copley Hotel in the Back Bay from 7 pm.

Self Help Africa is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization which set up a US operation in 2009 - after 25 years of operation in Africa and Europe - with the aim of bringing its message on African futures to a wider audience.

Its mission is to empower rural Africans to achieve economic independence on a continent where up to 75% of people rely on small-scale agriculture to survive. Self Help Africa constantly seeks to strengthen agricultural systems, improve access to services and inputs, and provide rural African communities with the opportunities to market and sell their produce.

The Boston fundraiser comes on the back of a similar October, 2011 event in New York City which brought together over 450 people from across the fields of business, media, sports, diplomacy, philanthropy and entertainment, including Fox News regular Jehmu Greene and former Irish rugby star Denis Hickie.

“The American dream is also Africa's dream,” Ray Jordan, CEO of Self Help Africa, reminded guests on the night. “Africa is a continent full of budding entrepreneurship, of women and men who want to work hard and pull their families out of poverty through the fruits of their labors.”

At the Boston event, guests will enjoy a champagne and cocktail reception, gourmet dinner, live and silent auctions, dancing to live music, and the signature Change-Maker’s Cocktail, inspired by African ingredients and designed specifically for the night by award-winning mixologists Joann Spiegel and Sabrina Kershaw.

Joann previously claimed GQ Magazine’s “Most Inspired Bartender” competition and is a regular on Martha Stewart Living Radio. Not to be outdone, Sabrina was recently named one of the country’s top mixologists, winning the Bacardi Legacy Cocktail Showcase and Boston’s famous “speed rack” competition.

Prizes on the night will include a VIP package to a Boston Red Sox game in the General Manager’s suite with drinks and dinner included; a weekend getaway trip to New York City which includes VIP tickets to the David Letterman Show; spa treatments; fashion apparel; golf outings and much more.

For more information on tickets and a full range of donation options including program advertising and underwriting opportunities, email contact@selfhelpafrica.org or call (212)-206-0847. For more on Self Help Africa’s work see www.selfhelpafrica.org.